Tourniquet
by Miss Annabel Lenore Ragg
Summary: What if things had happened differently that night in the bake house? What if Toby hadn't been able to hide from Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett? Eventual Sweenett.
1. The Beginning of the End

Hey, its me again, your master of suspense. Muh,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha! Ha. Ha. (cough. sigh.) Yeah. (OK not really, but hey, I try. You never know, you could be reading the work of the next Edgar Allan Poe. )

A/N: Once again; me no own,you no sue.

Tourniquet: Chapter 1- The Beginning of the End

Toby slumped against the cold metal door to the bake house; frozen by fear. Only a few feet away laid the corpse of the Beadle Bamford, along with numerous other victims of Sweeney's razor. He sat there for a few moments trying to gather his thoughts, and his breath, when he heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. He quickly got to his feet. He knew those footsteps belonged to Mr. Todd and if he didn't find a place to hide, he'd surely be the next to die. His eyes quickly darted around the room, his mind reeling. The door to the bake house slowly creaked open . Toby's heart sank and he quickly slipped behind the oven, praying that he wouldn't be found.

Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett stepped into the bake house, their eyes scanning across the room.

"Toby, were are you love?", Mrs. Lovett called.

"Toby!", Sweeney's voice echoed harshly as he followed Mrs. Lovett.

"Were are you dear? Nothings gonna harm you, not while I'm around.", Mrs. Lovett said sweetly, trying to coax Toby out of hiding.

"Toby!", Sweeney's voice called again. They continued searching the bake house for Toby, but to no avail.

"He couldn't of gone far.", Mrs. Lovett whispered to Sweeney. He nodded.

"He can't play this game forever. We'll find him soon enough. We have to find him. The little brat knows to much. He's gonna have to pay the price.", Sweeney said. Mrs. Lovett sighed and they continued their search.

Toby poked his head out from the side of the oven to see were Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett were headed , hoping that they wouldn't see him. It was too late. Sweeney had caught a glimpse of him. He grabbed Mrs. Lovett's arm and pointed toward the oven. She nodded and they made there way across the room.

Toby slumped to the floor, knowing this was the end. Mrs. Lovett grabbed his arm and pulled him from behind the oven.

"There you are dear,", she said smiling, "We've been looking all over for ya."

Her face then turned grim. She glanced over to Sweeney.

"I'm sorry Toby.", she said. Toby looked at her in disbelief

"No!", Toby screamed and made a run for it, almost knocking Sweeney over in the process. As he made his way to freedom though, he accidentally tripped over one of the corpses, falling flat on his face.

Sweeney walked over to him and grabbed him by the arm. Toby tried to break free but Sweeney twisted his arm, hard enough that the bone started to break. The blood-curdling cracking echoed throughout the room.

"Ooowwww! Stop, please!", Toby wailed as the horrible pain shoot through his right arm.

Sweeney tried turning him over, but he broke free, with the razor sinking into his already broken arm. He groaned and started heading toward the door, but just couldn't make it. He started to feel dizzy. The room started to spin, and he collapsed onto the floor.

Sweeney smiled wickedly to himself, knowing that he had Toby just were he wanted him. He walked over to were he lay. He knelt down beside him and pulled out one of his 'friends'.

"Time to die.", Sweeney muttered. Mrs. Lovett rushed over to Sweeney.

"Mr. T, please don't! Please don't!", she pleaded as she grabbed onto his shoulders.

"Get off me, you bloody woman!" Sweeney yelled as he threw Mrs. Lovett off, and onto the floor.

Toby heard this and tried to get up, but was unable to. Sweeney turned his head to Mrs. Lovett who was trying to get up off the floor. Tears were rolling down her face.

"There's no hope now, Mrs. Lovett. You should of never hired that nosey little brat in the first place and none of this would of ever happened. Oh, well. To late now.", Sweeney said.

He then turned back to Toby. He pressed the razor against his throat and everything faded to black.


	2. Hello

A/N: I'm baaaaaaaack! Have I kept you waiting, wanting, wishing, wondering, dreaming, pleading, and or screaming? Well I hope so 'cause thats what I'm here for.

Once again, me no own, you no sue.

Tourniquet: Chapter 2- Hello

Toby groaned as he began waking up. He didn't want to open his eyes yet for fear of lay before him. He wasn't quite sure were he was or ever falling asleep. Actually, he really couldn't remember anything.

_Am I dead? _he thought to himself. _No, no. That can't be right. I don't think you can feel pain if your dead, and I'm sure in a lot of that. My arm feels likes its been through a meat grinder. My throat hurts pretty bad, too, and I have a pounding headache._

He groaned again as memories started to flood his mind. He tried to get them out, but they just kept coming back. It seemed more like a nightmare than reality. He wished it was just a nightmare and he'd wake up and it would all fade away.

He was soon brought back to reality, though, by the sound of his name being called. He opened his eyes to reveal a small, light grayish room. He still had no idea were he was. He turned his head to find Mrs. Lovett knelt down beside the bed he was laying on. She looked like she'd been crying. He eyes were red and puffy and her face was tear stained. She looked like she hadn't slept in a few days either.

"M-mum?",Toby said. His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper. Mrs. Lovett sighed and a smile soon light up her face.

"Thank God you're alive." she muttered as tears of joy rolled down her face. Toby gave her a weak smile, assuring her that he was okay for the most part, not wanting to worry her too much. She placed her hand on his. "I thought you were gone forever." she sniffed, and smiled at her adoptive son.

"Were am I?", Toby questioned.

"The hospital deary.", Mrs. Lovett replied. "You've been here for about three days now."

He looked at her in astonishment that he'd been out that long; and that he that he was even still alive.

"I'm just so happy that you're alive.", Mrs. Lovett said. Toby smiled at her again, but that soon faded away.

"You were helping Mr. Todd try to kill me.", he said coldly.

"What was that dear?", Mrs. Lovett said, surprised.

"You were helping Mr. Todd kill me. You locked me in the bake house on purpose and then helped Mr. Todd search. You lied. You told me that nothing was gonna harm me.",Toby said.

Mrs. Lovett took a deep breath and braced herself for what she was going to say. "Toby, you know I love you very much, but, just, well, when you found out what was going on, I panicked. I didn't know what to do, so I locked you in the bake house and when I told Mr. Todd of course he came up with the solution to all his problems. I never wanted to do those things to you, I swear. I wasn't in my right mind then. Oh, Toby, I'm so sorry!", she sobbed. Toby just gave her a dark glare.

Mrs. Lovett took another deep breath and continued again. "If it weren't for me you wouldn't be here now. I pulled Mr. Todd away just in time, then he turned on me. The only reason he didn't kill me is because he remembered that the judge was coming.", She sighed and shook her head wondering why she was telling him this. "Please, please forgive me."

Toby just stared at her for a while. Part of him wanted to stay angry at her for what she did, but a larger part wanted to forgive her. She was the only person that had really cared about him. She had some follies, but all in all she was a good person.

"I'll forgive you.", he said. "I'm still a bit angry for what you did but, I'll forgive you. You're the only person that has ever cared about me and I'm thankful for that. Thanks for saving me."

Mrs. Lovett smiled "Of course dear. I just couldn't let you die there. I can't imagine life without you. You're like a son to me. You're all I have left. I love you Toby.", she said and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"I love you too, mum", he said "But why did Mr. Todd kill all those people?"

Mrs. Lovett sighed. "It's a long story dear, maybe another day. Anyway, you better be getting some rest, all right."

She knew that he would learn the truth sooner or later, but this was not a subject that she felt like talking about at that time.

"But, mum." he pleaded.

"Now Toby,", she said "You heard me the first time, now you best be getting some sleep. You have a long recovery ahead of you darling."

Toby reluctantly laid back down. He knew that she was trying to hide something from him, but he was too tired to keep up an argument.

"That's my boy. Sweet dreams dear.", Mrs. Lovett said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Toby started to close his eyes.

"I love you, mum.", he said, and drifted off to sleep.


	3. Nobody Home

A/N: Once again, me no own, you no sue.

Tourniquet: Chapter 3- Nobody Home

Mrs. Lovett was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed with Toby's head resting on her chest. He looked so sweet and innocent laying there. His breathing was much less raspy and his wounds were starting to heal. His skin was still a deathly pale, though, which made him look like a porcelain doll, and if he fell he would shatter into a thousand pieces.

The doctor said that in a week or so he would be able to go home. Mrs. Lovett was very happy with this development, but she was also worried. Waiting back in Fleet Street, Sweeney was still pacing his shop. She defiantly didn't want him around when she brought Toby back home.

She needed a way to get him to leave. He had over stayed his welcome. She was so happy when he came home after all thoughts years, and had given him everything that he needed, and had helped him in any way she could. She gave her love to him but he had not given her any in return. He had crossed the line with almost killing Toby.

She sighed and stroked Toby's hair. The last few times she had gone back to her shop she had heard Sweeney pacing, but she dared not go up. She didn't know why he continued to do this. He had gotten his revenge, he should let it all behind him, not like she would tell him that though. The judge was dead, the beadle was dead, and Lucy was "dead". Actually, she was still wondering the London streets. Not like she cared anyway. She knew that she would never have Sweeney to herself, and now she didn't want him anymore.

"Stupid, crazy, murdering, cold-hearted, good for nothing barber with a stupid, crazy, blond haired wretch for a wife", she muttered to herself. "Who needs 'em."

* * *

Later that day, Mrs. Lovett made her way back home. It was starting to get dark out, so she quickened her pace. She walked up to the front of the shop and unlocked the door. She slowly walked into the dark, dust ridden pie shop and into the back parlor.

She sat down. It was quiet. Too quiet. No pacing. No creaking of the floor boards. Not even the occasional sound of some blunt object being thrown across the barber shop upstairs. She heard nothing. Absolutely nothing. She started to worry.

_Maybe he's asleep. _she thought to herself. _That's it, he's asleep. Not like he dose that a lot. Wait, what am I thinking? Why should I care. He could of jumped off a cliff for all I care._ She gave a small, quiet, sarcastic laugh.

After about another hour, she still heard nothing. She then decided to go up and investigate. She kept telling herself that she was not going up because she was worried about him, but because of sheer curiosity. She grabbed a lit candle, for it was quite dark out, and crept up the stairs to the barber shop.

When she got to the top of the steps she found a note on the door. She ripped it from were it was pinned up and held it to the light. It read:

_Dear Mrs. Lovett,_

_As you have probably figured out by now, I'm gone. If you're even thinking about it ,and something tells me you're not, don' t come looking for me. I've gone to clear my head and get as far away as I can from this wretched place. I don't know were I'm going or if I'm ever coming back._

_Sincerely,_

_Sweeney Todd_

She finished reading the note and then crumpled it up. She then sat down on the steps with her face in her hands and stared to cry. She hated that man so much, she should be glad that he was gone, but deep down inside her she still had feelings for him. She didn't know why. She shook her head. She was so confused.

"I just need to get some sleep." she said to herself. "I'll figure this out in the morning."

She then descended the stairs and walked back into her shop.


	4. So Close

A/N: Me no own, you no sue, all right? All right.

Tourniquet: Chapter 4- So Close

Mrs. Lovett barely slept that night. Her mind was restless. She contemplated whether or not she still really did have feelings for the demon barber. Whether or not it was right. Whether or not she was betraying herself. Her mind would tell her one thing while her heart would tell her another.

In the end, she decided that to try to forget the whole thing and start anew. For her sake, and Toby's.

This was easier said than done.

She yawned and climbed out of bed. She got dressed and headed to the parlor. She opened one of the curtains to look out the window and saw that the sun was actually out for once. She smiled. "Maybe its not going to be such a bad day after all."

Mrs. Lovett rounded the corner leading to the hospital. She passed through the large oaken door at the main entrance and into the lobby. She maneuvered her way through to the other side of the lobby to Dr. Waldman, who was presently taking care of Toby. He was walking through the lobby while thumbing through a rather large stack of papers, not paying much attention to were he was walking.

Dr. Waldman was a older man, in his late 50's early 60's, and rather short in stature. His hair was greying but you could still see a bit of his original hair color, which was dark brown. He also had large, bright, expressive hazel eyes, which told a lot about what he was thinking, even when he didn't express it verbally. Presently, he had a rather quizzical look on his face as he looked through his stack of papers.

"Dr. Waldman, sir.", Mrs. Lovett said a little hesitantly. Dr. Waldman stopped and looked up, almost dropping his papers, and looked rather startled.

"Oh, 'ello, Mrs. Lovett.", he said with a most benevolent air to his voice. " 'ow are you this morning?"

"Fine, thank you.", she said "How is Toby?"

Dr. Waldman sighed. "Well...", he said after a short pause.

"Well, what?" Mrs. Lovett said worriedly. "What do you mean by 'well'? Is something wrong? Is he alright? Oh, please tell me!"

"Well, he's got quit a high fever and a bit of a hacking cough as well. I don't think he has an infection but I'm keeping a close eye on him just to be sure. I've given him so medication to keep his fever down, and to control that nasty cough he has as well. We wouldn't want those stitches in his neck to start to come out because of that.", Dr. Waldman said.

"Oh God...", Mrs. Lovett said, trailing off a bit. "Well, is he going to be all right? Oh, please tell me he's going to be all right."

Dr. Waldman put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, he's going to be all right, he's in good hands. He should be better in a week or so and he should be able to go home. You can go see him if you wish; he's probably asleep, though."

Mrs. Lovett nodded happily. "All right, thank you, thank you sir!", she said and rushed off down the hall.

Mrs. Lovett cautiously opened the door to Toby's room and slowly walked in and over to his bedside. He was sound asleep. He defiantly didn't look well. His hair was plastered down with sweat and he had a drawn, haggard look to his face. She brushed a few strands of hair from his forehead. "Poor thing.", she whispered softly.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and watched him sleep. She noticed that he was breathing heavily, his chest heaving with every breath. It looked almost painful for him to breath. He coughed and turned over to his side with a sickly groan.

She placed a hand on his arm. She sighed and tried to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes. "God, I hope the doctor is right."


	5. Anywhere but Home

A/N: Me no own, you no sue.

Tourniquet: Chapter 5 - Anywhere but Home

Within a little over a week, Toby had almost fully recovered and was ready to go home. He tightly held Mrs. Lovett's hand as they walked out of the building and outside to were a carriage awaited them.

It was a rather dreary day in London. Large, dark clouds had rolled in and a steady rain was falling, making a dull, monotonous sound on the cobble stone streets. Mrs. Lovett climbed into the carriage after helping Toby in. The carriage jerked forward, and they started their trip back to Fleet Street. Toby slid closer to Mrs. Lovett. He rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

"You tired dear?" Mrs. Lovett asked. Toby nodded sleepily.

"Well, we'll be 'ome soon, and you can get some sleep then, all right." she said, ruffling his hair.

The carriage pulled up to the shop with a halt. The horse pulling the carriage snorted and tossed its head, not taking to kindly to the bit being pulled so hard in its mouth.

"Knock it off you dumb brute!" the driver yelled. "I've had enough trouble with ya! You keep it up and I'll have you sent to the slaughter house!"

Mrs. Lovett helped Toby out of the carriage and onto the sidewalk. The rain was pouring down.

Toby turned his head toward the sad looking dark bay colored horse pulling the carriage. The horse, an older creature of about medium height. Its head hung low. You could see its back bone, hips, and ribs sticking out. Its legs were caked in mud, but you could still see that it had a white hoof and sock on its left hind leg. On the center of its forehead was a white, lightning bolt-shaped marking.

"Poor fellow." Toby muttered. He knew how it felt to be treated so poorly.

"Come on Toby, let's get inside." Mrs. Lovett said, pulling him by the hand. He turned around and let her lead him away, taking on last look at the dark bay horse. The driver snapped the reins, which sent the horse struggling to a trot and off down the street.

Toby looked up at the second story barber shop that loomed over head. He stopped dead in his tracks. He let go of Mrs. Lovett's hand and took a few shaky steps back.

"Toby, 'wots a matter dear?" Mrs. Lovett asked.

He kept looking up at the barber shop, a look of sheer terror in his eyes.

"Oh Toby, he's gone dear. He left over a week ago. There's nothing to worry about." Mrs. Lovett said

Toby shook his head. His tears mingled with the rain that was falling on his face. Mrs. Lovett put her hands on his shoulders.

"Its all right darling, he's gone." She said "There's nothing to be afraid of, and besides, I would never let him or anyone else hurt you ever again. I promise."

She had made the same promise to him before, and he ended up almost losing his life. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, not wanting to ever let him go.

"Shh, Shh, there's nothing to worry about. Everything is going to be fine." She slowly let go of him and wiped the tears from his face.

"Let's get you inside before you catch a chill." She said. Toby nodded solemnly and let her guide him inside.

Mrs. Lovett opened the door to her pie shop and they walked inside. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

"Well, I sure have work cut out for me as far as cleaning goes, huh." Mrs. Lovett said jokingly.

Toby wasn't paying attention. He was slowly walking around the shop. It seemed like forever since he had last been in there. He tried to remember the last time he was in the shop, but his mind kept drifting off to that night in the bake house.

"Come on dear." Mrs. Lovett said "Let's get you dried off a bit and then you can get some rest."

After he had changed into some dry clothes, he climbed into bed to get some much welcomed sleep. Mrs. Lovett tucked him in and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Now if you need anything, just shout, all right." Mrs. Lovett said.

"All right mum." Toby said as he closed his eyes.

Mrs. Lovett figured she probably wouldn't be hearing from him. He was still on a regular dose of laudanum, which made him rather drowsy, so she guessed that he wouldn't wake up until the next morning.

She gave him another kiss and walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her. With the free time she now had, she decided to do some much needed dusting.

Later that night Mrs. Lovett was in her room, sleeping soundly. Toby, on the other hand, was restless as an onslaught of his most dreaded memories filled his mind. They started with his earliest memories from the workhouse where he was beaten senselessly even if he hardly did anything wrong; to when he worked for Pirelli where he wasn't treated any kinder. Thoughts memories though seemed distant and foggy compared to his newest ones. He could clearly remember the dimly lit cellar bake house; and the smell of death that hung heavy in the air. He could still feel the cold, silver straight razor against his throat. He woke up with a start in a cold sweat and screamed bloody murder.

Mrs. Lovett woke up and rushed over to his room to find him sitting up in bed with his knees against his chest, crying. She rushed over to him and put her arms around him tightly.

"Oh, Toby, what's wrong deary?" she said

He didn't answer her and continued sobbing even harder. Mrs. Lovett stroked his back soothingly, trying to calm him. She figured that he must have had a nightmare.

"Shh, Shh, Shh, its all right sweetie. It was just a nightmare, but its over now. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm right here. Nothings gonna harm you darling."

He seemed to have calmed down a bit after that. Mrs. Lovett continued stroking his back and talking to him softly to comfort him.

She felt so bad for him. She couldn't imagine how he felt, or how traumatized he was. She just wished that there was more that she could do to help him. She wanted to be able to make the nightmares go away, and for things to go back to the way they were.

After a few minutes Toby had almost completely calmed down.

"All right dear, how about you try to get some sleep, okay. It's late." Mrs. Lovett said. She was exhausted and desperately wanted to go back to bed. The clock in old St. Dunstan's church chimed 4 o'clock in the morning.

Toby shook his head and wrapped his uninjured arm tighter around her. He didn't want her to leave.

Mrs. Lovett sighed and rested her head on his. She loved him to pieces and had great sympathy for him, but she hadn't had a good nights sleeps in a few weeks and it was starting to catch up to her.

"All right, how about to sleep in my room tonight." She said.

Toby nodded and Mrs. Lovett guided him into her room.

He climbed into bed next to her and eased his head onto the pillow. Mrs. Lovett put her arm around him and let out a deep sigh.

_Hopefully the rest of the night is uneventful. _She thought to herself, hoping to get in at least a few hours of sleep.

A loud clap of thunder followed by a bolt of lightning sounded from the rain storm raging outside. Toby let out a soft whimper and curled up closer to Mrs. Lovett.

"It was just thunder, nothing to worry 'bout. Go to sleep." She said yawing.

Toby knew that there wasn't anything to worry about, but that didn't stop him from being afraid. He used to be afraid of hardly anything, or at least he didn't show it. After that night in the bake house, though, even the smallest things frightened him.

He pulled the blanket closer around him, trembling.

Mrs. Lovett sat up in bed. "Don't be afraid, sweetie. I told you before; there is nothing to worry about. It's just your nerves. You just need to get a good nights rest." She said as she stroked his hair.

"If you need to leave the world you live in," she sang softly, "Lay your head down and stay a while. Though you may not remember dreaming, something waits for you to breathe again. In my field of paper flowers and candy clouds of lullaby, I lie inside myself for hours and watch my purple sky fly over me."

Toby closed his eyes and the sweet lullaby finally coaxed him to sleep.

* * *

A/N: *The horse is based off of my dad's horse Cody. Unlike the horse in this story, though, he was never abused, but a while back he got really, really sick and was at the equine hospital for about 5 weeks; and well he kind of looked like the horse in the story. Cody is doing much better now and is back to his own fuzzy, loveable, tub of lard self. J

**Lyrics are from 'Imaginary' (version 1 from 'Origin'). They belong to the amazing Amy Lee of Evanescence


	6. Salvation

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to post, dang writer's block! I kill you! It happens. I have an announcement for you:

I would like to give a very special thank-you to my best friend Kayla who was a MAJOR help in writing this chapter. Kayla, thank you soooo much! You're one of the very few people who can finish my thoughts and keep me from going completely insane. Thank You so much! I love you girl! **How about a big round of applause** **for the 'mazing Kayla!** **W00t!** Kayla you're the best! =~D

Me no own, you no sue.

Tourniquet: Chapter 6- Salvation

"Monster…monster…killer…villain …monster…killer. Monster…killer…killer. Killer. Monster. Murderer. Killer. Killer! Killer! Monster. Murderer. Killer. Monster. Killer…monster…Sweeney… Sweeney… Sweeney!" The ghostly voices whispered constantly in Sweeney Todd's head as he walked down am old, deserted, dirt road on the outskirts of London. He'd been aimlessly wondering around the outskirts of London, and other rural areas like a lost soul for the past few weeks. He had gone to clear his head and get away from London and the ghosts it harbored. He had thought of what he had done and how he hurt both Mrs. Lovett and Toby.

Sweeney was in a very unconscious state of mind. Though he was walking, he couldn't feel his legs move. He didn't know what he was doing; he kept pondering what he should do, where he should go, what his life would be like in the future. He thought about things he had never thought about before. He didn't know why he thought those thoughts. He tried to become numb in his thoughts and feelings, like he did so often after he deported by the judge. He then began thinking about his wife; the look on her face as he was being taken away; he look of hurt, anguish, and fear of what would happen to her and Johanna since he was gone. He though about how he felt as he sat in that lonely jail cell, so far away from home; not knowing if he would ever see his Lucy and Johanna again.

His thoughts then shifted to that night in the bake house as he and Mrs. Lovett went in search of Toby. He remembered when they found him hiding behind the furnace; the look of terror in his eyes as he tried to make a run for it. He remembered the look in Mrs. Lovett's eyes as she pleaded for him to spare Toby's life. He had merely tossed her aside. He did not take very kindly to people getting in between him and the thrill of murder. He had not pity as he pressed the razor against Toby's throat. He was so close to killing him, until Mrs. Lovett intervened. She had knocked the razor out of his hands as she screamed at him to stop. He had quickly picked the razor back up and pinned her against the wall. He was so close to killing her also until she blurted out that the judge was coming. He then quickly stomped out of the bake house; full of rage and in anticipation of killing the judge, leaving Mrs. Lovett with a nearly dead Toby.

He had no pity on them. Ever since he was shipped off he the only pity he had was on himself. He had become so self centered, only caring about his problems, only focusing on getting his revenge.

Now he had it. He should feel good; all his problems were over, right? He should be able to move on with his life; but deep inside something felt odd, wrong. He had gotten his revenge, but now what? What was left for him to do? The thought of revenge had completely consumed him, but now it seemed he had nothing to live for. He felt completely empty and without purpose. He sat down on the edge of the road and contemplated this. As he sat there he thought of everything he had done since he came back to London. The horrible crimes he had committed. Was it really right to waste all those innocent lives, just to get at one person who had wronged him over a decade ago?

He shook his head. Why should he care about them or anyone else for that matter? The only people he had ever cared about were Lucy and Johanna, and now Lucy was gone and Johanna had run off with Anthony.

As he thought about this though, he began to feel very strange. He began to feel something he had never felt before, or at least not in a very long time; a feeling of pity and sympathy for others. He began to feel pity for all those innocent people he slaughtered and for their families who were left to wonder what happened to them. He felt pity for Mrs. Lovett. She had done her best to help him in any way she could, but he had taken no notice of her and went on with mourning his dear Lucy. He even felt pity for Toby, who would now have to live with the physical and emotional scars for the rest of his life.

Sweeney shook his head again. He couldn't understand why he felt like this. He tried to cancel it out but it just became stronger and stronger. He realized that deep, deep inside him somewhere through all the hate, anger, angst, and rage, part of the loving, caring Benjamin Barker was still there, desperately waiting to come back; no matter how hard he tried to fight it.

After a while of raging an internal conflict he decided that he just couldn't ignore these feelings he had. He stood up and decided that he was going to do something. He was going to turn his miserable life around, and hopefully have some chance of salvation.

He then started walking down that barren, desolate road and put his plan into action. This was completely and absolutely out of character for Sweeney Todd, a man who had grown to hate the world and its inhabitance with a passion and would more than happily kill anyone who made him angry; but for some reason it actually felt, good.

He traveled down the road to start the first part of his plan; confront Mrs. Lovett.

* * *

Dun, dun duuuuuuunnnnnn. Has Sweeney really changed his ways, or will he go back to his same hateful self? Queue dramatic music!

Oh, this chapter is based off the Alice Cooper song by the same name. I love Alice Cooper. 'He's hot, he's sexy, he's alive!' Who knew a man who wrote a song about dead babies, could be so funny.' 'He's the king of your kind, what ever kind of mutant you are. All hail, Alice Cooper!'

The beginning of the chapter is based off the beginning of 'Legal Assassin' from Repo! The Genetic Opera, which I do not own, I wish I did though, I love Repo. Oh well.


	7. Misery Loves Company

A/N: Once again me no own, you no sue.

Tourniquet: Chapter 7- Misery Loves Company

Toby lay in bed with a pounding headache. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as another wave of pain washed over him. He rolled over to his side and looked over the edge of the bed to the floor were an empty bottle of gin lay. He reached down to pick up the bottle and put it on the nightstand so he wouldn't trip over it when, and if, he decided to get out of bed.

This was the second time this week he had finished off an entire bottle of gin in one night. He drank to forget. To forget every bad thing that had happened to him; which was a lot. It did help a bit, but most times it would just leave him with a horrible headache in the morning; and not to mention a bad taste in his mouth. Mrs. Lovett tried to discourage him form doing this. She told him that much alcohol at one time was bad for his health; but yet she still let him do it anyway, knowing that she would be doing the same thing.

Toby let out a deep sigh as Mrs. Lovett walked into his room.

"Good morning, dear, I brought you some breakfast." She said cheerfully.

Her usually sweet, musical voice now grated against Toby's ears. Her boots clattered loudly on the wood floor. Toby turned over to his side and put his hands over his ears.

"Must you be so loud?" Toby asked crossly.

Mrs. Lovett stopped half way across the room. "Oh, I'm sorry darling, did I wake you?"

Toby didn't answer her, and instead pulled the blankets over his head.

"If I woke you up, dear, I'm really sorry." She said sheepishly.

She sighed and set the tray on the nightstand; not very surprised that she didn't get an answer from him.

"Aren't you going to eat anything, love?"

"No." Toby snapped back at her coldly. "I'm not feeling well."

Mrs. Lovett eyed the empty bottle of gin on the table and understood why.

"Well, I'm just gonna leave this here in case you get hungry later, all right." She said.

Once again Toby gave her no answer.

She sighed and went to place her hand on his shoulder, but drew back, figuring that this would just set him off again. She picked up the empty bottle of gin and exited the room as quietly as she could, leaving him to sleep.

Mrs. Lovett sat at the counter in her shop, spinning the empty bottle across the top. She watched as the bottle spun round and round, drawing her into deep thought. She was still a bit heart broken about the way Toby acted; but she was learning to not let it get to her. It seemed liker every day he was drawn into deeper and deeper depression. This was all so out of character for him. He always was a very happy, cheerful child. He was always trying to help her in the shop in anyway he could. Either serving customers, running errands, or helping clean up after the shop had closed for the day; it seemed like it almost killed him to sit still for even a minute. He always had something nice to say to her; which helped even a little bit when she had to deal with the resentful Sweeney Todd. It was nice to know that Toby would always be there for her.

Now though, it seemed like all that was gone. He was now very moody and sullen. Most days he would lock himself up in his room for most of the day, and rarely spoke. It was weeks since she had seen him smile. He had also become quite paranoid; and his constant nightmares and vivid imagination didn't help this fact. I was about four months now since that night, and it still haunted. She knew this was something he would never forget and this was all very hard on him, but she wished that he would cheer up just a bit. It saddened her greatly to see her once cheerful boy so dismal and melancholic. She always tried to act cheerful around him, hoping that this would lift his spirits even a little, but it was no use. She was almost on the verge of giving up. She wiped the tears from her eyes and went to open up the shop.

Later that evening Toby woke up from his nap, feeling much better than he did that morning. His headache was gone and he didn't feel like he was going to throw up any more. He sat up in bed and looked around his room. He was fairly certain that that he had counted ever little flower on the wallpaper and had counted all the patches on the quilt that covered his bed at least a hundred times over. The days and weeks of locking himself in his room was becoming quite dull.

After starring at the walls of his room, the little pink and blue flowers that covered the walls began to become more sinister looking after hours of starring at them. Some how, in his strange psychosis, they would begin to morph into more demonic and malevolent figures; monsters with razor sharp teeth, instead of pretty little flowers. Innocent enough shadows had become demons, slithering in and out of the corners in the slowly dieing candle light; ready and willing to ensnare him as he slept. Sometimes an over active imagination just doesn't pay off. After a while he was starting to question his own sanity. Thankfully, the once enthralling activity of starring blankly at the wall and drowning himself in his own sorrows and way too much gin was becoming quite boring; and he decided to got find something else to do. He climbed out of bed and went to go see what Mrs. Lovett was doing.

As he walked out of his room and into the hallway he heard sobbing coming from the parlor. He quietly entered the room to find Mrs. Lovett sitting before the fireplace crying. On her lap was a skirt she was mending; but she wasn't getting much work done for her hands trembled too much for her to even pick up the needle.

"Mum?" Toby called shyly, but received no answer from her.

He went over and sat next to her. "Mum, wots wrong?" he asked.

Mrs. Lovett just shook her head and put her face in her hands, sobbing even harder.

Toby wrapped his thin arms around her neck and placed his head on her shoulder. He hoped that she wasn't upset at the way he acted that morning.

"I'm really sorry for snapping at you like that this morning, I didn't mean it, I swear. I'm really, really sorry." He said.

Mrs. Lovett wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Oh, it's not that dear, it's not that; and I know you didn't mean it." She said, sniffling.

"Then wots wrong?" Toby asked.

"Oh, it's nothing you need to worry 'bout, love." She said, giving him a pat on the head and then wiped the tears from her eyes.

He hated it when she kept things from him, but he thought it best not to argue with her. He really wanted to know what she was so upset about. If it wasn't him, then what was it? Was it something that happened with one of the customers that came into the shop or, dare he even think, something about Mr. Todd. He shuddered at the thought, but Mrs. Lovett didn't seem to notice.

Mrs. Lovett wrapped her arms around him tighter and ruffled his hair.

"Now, isn't this a nice change from sitting in your room all day?" she asked.

Toby nodded.

"Oh, darling, it makes me so sad to see you so gloomy all the time. I hate seeing you like that."

Toby merely sighed, not knowing what kind of answer to give her.

After not getting any answer from him, she decided to drop the subject, not wanting to upset him any further. Instead she gave him a kiss on the top of the head and hugged him a bit tighter. Toby snuggled closer to her and together they watched as the fire slowly burned down in the fireplace.

A little after midnight, Toby had fallen asleep and Mrs. Lovett decided to head off to bed. She gently placed a pillow under his head and covered him up with a blanket.

"Good night, sweet heart." She whisper softy as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. As she went to go to her bed room, she heard a knock on the shop door.

"Now who in creation is knocking on the door this late at night?" She thought out loud.

She went into the shop and opened the door to see who it was.

"Mrs. Lovett?" said the gruff voice of the stranger outside.

Mrs. Lovett looked hard at the shadowy figure standing at the door, trying to figure out who it was. She placed her hand over her mouth, as if to suppress a scream.

"Mr. Todd!" she gasped.


	8. Almost Easy

A/N: Back by popular demand! Yeah, I know it's been a while, but oh well. All who review will get a piece of pumpkin pie with extra whipped cream and three York peppermint patties. Yum. Hope you enjoy!

Me no own, you no sue.

Tourniquet: Chapter 8- Almost Easy

"Mr. Todd!" She gasped. She stumbled back a few steps, almost falling over. "W-w-wot are you d-doing 'ere?"

Sweeney stepped forward a bit. The moon light cast eerie shadows across his face.

"I've come to talk to you." He said.

Mrs. Lovett stood there staring at him. "Well," she said after a bit. "W-wot do ya want?"

"I've come to apologize." He said. "To apologize for everything I've done to hurt you and Toby; and maybe, get some chance at salvation."

Mrs. Lovett stood in disbelief; not quite sure if this was really happening or she was just dreaming it all up. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. A few moments of silence lapsed.

"Well, may I come in?" Sweeney asked.

"Umm, I guess…" she said, at length; and let him into the shop. Sweeney stepped in and she closed the door quietly behind him. He walked around the shop for a few minutes. Mrs. Lovett watched him make his way around the shop; not sure what he was up to. Sweeney then sat down in one of the booths and motioned for her to sit across from him. She obediently sat down.

"Mrs. Lovett," he said "First off, I want to say I'm terribly, terribly sorry for all I've done. I had become all to consumed by hate and rage to see that wot I was doing was wrong. The past few weeks I 'ave been pondering what to do now with my pitiful and miserable existence. I had gotten my revenge I had waited so long for, but now I had nothing left. My dearest Lucy is gone and Johanna had run off with Anthony 'fore I even got a chance to see her. There was nothing left; I was completely empty of everything, including my hate. That's when I really began to relies that wot I've done was immoral. I then started to think that somewhere deep, deep inside my cold, black heart, through all the pent up hate and anger that the part of me that could feel compassion was still there. I know I wouldn't be the same as I was when I was Benjamin Barker, the part of me that had seemed dead; but I was 'oping to maybe have some chance of salvation for myself."

Mrs. Lovett sat in silence; not sure if he was really saying all of this. She wasn't even completely sure if she could believe him. She peered into his eyes and noticed how sincere they were. She shook her head and stood up, walking to the other end of the shop. Why should she even consider listening to, or even believing the man who caused her so much pain; let alone forgive him? She folded her arms and turned her back toward him.

"I- I can't." she said "I can't forgive you. After all that you've done; I don't think I'm quite ready to forgive you."

Sweeney stood up and walked toward her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, but she stepped away.

"Mrs. Lovett," he said "I'm so sorry for all that I've done. I know 'wot it's like to be put through so much pain and suffering; and that it's something that will never fully go away; but I would like to put some of the past behind me and 'ave you forgive me."

Mrs. Lovett turned around. She looked into his eyes and sighed. "Well…" she said trailing off.

Then, Sweeney did something that she was completely unprepared for. He kissed her.

"Will you forgive me now?" he said slyly.

She swayed a bit, almost ready to faint, be he caught her before she fell. She blinked a few times and wondered yet again if she was dreaming all of this up, and that she would wake up at any minute. She then realized that she truly still had feeling for him.

"Well, I suppose so. I forgive you." She said staring up into his dark eyes.

Sweeney, with his arms still tightly around her, led her to one of the booths. She sat down and he sat across from her. Together they sat in silence. Mrs. Lovett sat looking at the floor, deep in thought. She looked up.

"Well, I believe it would do us all some good to try to put the past behind us and move on and start anew." She said smiling. Sweeney smiled back at her.

"The thing is though," She said with a sigh. "Toby is gonna take a lot of convincing. The poor child is scared to death of ya."

Sweeney frowned and looked down at the table, feeling rather guilty. " 'ow is he doing?" Sweeney asked.

Mrs. Lovett sighed. "He's getting better." She said. She really didn't feel like stating that he had almost killed him, which she could tell he felt very guilty about, or that he was having nightmares almost every night and he had now become quite paranoid. She merely sighed again and continued looking down at the table.

Sweeney placed his hand on hers in a gesture of sympathy. She looked up. She could tell in the sincere look in his eyes that he really had changed, and for the better. She placed his hand in hers and smiled.

"We could 'ave a life us three. You, Toby and I. Maybe not like I dreamed, maybe not like you remember, but we could get by." She said.

Sweeney smiled. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Yes, I think we could get by." He said. "I know that I'll never have my Lucy back again; but I want to move on and put the past behind me."

Mrs. Lovett cringed slightly at the mention of Lucy. She knew that Sweeney was under the assertion that she was dead, but Mrs. Lovett knew that she was still very much alive. She knew that the moment that he found out the she was still living, their lives would be completely shattered; in every sense of the term.

They sat in the shop for a few hours casually talking when Mrs. Lovett looked out the window. The sun was already starting to rise and people were beginning to open up their own shops for the day.

"Well, better start getting the pies made and open up the shop." She said standing up. Sweeney got up and followed her across the shop.

"Well, I'm gonna go up and get my shop set up." He said.

"Alright, love." Mrs. Lovett said. "There's probably a good deal of dust up there."

Sweeney nodded and head toward the door.

"Oh, one more thing," she said.

"What is it, pet?" he replied, almost half way out the door.

"I do not wish to see any more dead bodies in the bake house when I go to get the pies."

"Of course." Sweeney said and headed out the door.

After putting a batch of pies in the oven, Mrs. Lovett went to go check on Toby. When she entered the room he was just waking up.

"Good morning, dear." She said cheerfully.

Toby yawned. "Morning mum." He said, rubbing his eyes.

"Did you sleep all right last night?" she asked, wondering if he had heard anything that had taken place that night.

"Mhm." He mumbled, nodding. He yawned again and stretched. He was still only half awake.

She sat down next to him and put her arms around him. She knew she'd have to tell him about Sweeney, but she really didn't want to frighten him. She sighed and stroked his hair.

"Toby, dear, there's something important I need to talk to ya about."

" Wot is it, mum?" he asked.

"Well," she said. "Last night, Mr. Todd came back."

Toby's eyes got wide. He looked as if he was about ready to cry. Mrs. Lovett stroked his back, trying to comfort him.

"It's alright, dear. I talked to him and he said that he really just wants to put the past behind him and start anew. He's changed, darling, he really has." She said.

Toby shook his head. "No, no. He's a liar. He's a liar and he hasn't changed. He's gonna try to hurt me again, I know it!" he said, sobbing.

"Oh, darling, you know I'd never let him hurt you again. And I'm telling ya, dear, he really has changed." She said. She went to put her arms around him, but he pulled away.

"Toby, dear, please, just listen to me." She pleaded.

"No!" he screamed at her and stomped out of the room. Tears were streaming down his face.

Mrs. Lovett sighed. "Well, that went well."

Later that day Mrs. Lovett was sitting in her shop. Business had been slow that day. Actually, business had been slow for the past few weeks. Her pies had now gone back to being the worst in London. She sat drumming her fingers against the table, staring blankly out the window, when Sweeney entered the shop.

"'Ello, pet." He said.

She looked up. "Oh, 'ello." She said dryly and went back to looking out the window.

" 'ow did your day go." He asked.

Mrs. Lovett looked up again, a bit startled. She couldn't remember the last time he had asked her how her day went. Maybe this new Sweeney would take some getting used to.

"Well, I talked to Toby." She said.

"And…" Sweeney said.

"He didn't take to kindly to it. He got pretty upset. He's locked himself up in his room... again." She replied.

Sweeney frowned, not really knowing what to say to this.

"Well, did ya get your shop cleaned up?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, I got most of it cleaned up, but I still 'ave some work left to do." He replied.

Mrs. Lovett nodded and went back to looking out the window. Sweeney went and sat next to her.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Mrs. Lovett let out a deep sigh. "I'm just worried 'bout Toby." She said. "He's been so depressed lately. He just 'asn't been the same. The poor thing. I feel so bad for him, but I just don't know 'ow to 'elp him any more."

Sweeney put his arms around her tightly. "I'm sure he'll get better soon enough, my dear."

"Easy enough for you to say." she replied coldly and pulled away from him. She looked at him hard. "Easy enough to say coming from someone who 'asn't 'ad to deal with 'im. Especially coming from the person who caused him all this pain. 'ow about I slit your damn throat and see how you feel about it!"

Sweeney was rather startled by her reaction. Mrs. Lovett got up and walked across the shop. She shook her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, it's-it's been a long few weeks." she said. A tear trickled down her face.

Sweeney walked over to her and put his arms around her waist. "That's all right, pet. I just shouldn't have said anything." He held her close to him for a few minutes in silence.

"I'm going to go up and finish cleaning up my shop. Are you going to be all right, darling?" he said at length. She nodded. He kissed her on the cheek and walked out the door.

A few days had passed, and Toby still refused to come out of his room. This wasn't unusual for him, but Mrs. Lovett still worried.

"Toby, dear, please come out." She said, knocking on his door. She got no answer. She tried turning the door knob, but it was still locked.

"Come on, dear. I wanna talk to ya. Come on Toby." She pleaded again, but she still got no answer. She sighed and figured her attempt useless. As she turned to walk back down the hall, though, Toby opened the door.

Mrs. Lovett turned back around and smiled.

"That's my boy." She said smiling and hugged him tightly. "Now, come along." She said, taking him by the hand.

She led him into the parlor where Sweeney was already seated. Toby gulped and tried to pull away but Mrs. Lovett had a death grip on his hand.

"It's alright dear, he's not gonna 'urt ya, I promise." She said as she sat down. Toby sat next to her. She was still holding his hand tightly. Sweeney smiled at him from across the room, but Toby didn't return the gesture.

"Alright, I think we all need to 'ave a nice little chat, huh." Mrs. Lovett said.

Sweeney leaned forward a bit in his chair, which made Toby even more nervous. Mrs. Lovett nodded to Sweeney.

"Toby," Sweeney said. "I am extremely sorry for 'wot I did to you. I can't tell you 'ow guilty I feel about it. I know you'll probably never forgive me for this, and I don't expect you to, but I just want to say I'm so sorry for 'wot I've done."

Toby bit his lip and exhaled deeply. He was still nervous, but that was starting to go away. He could tell that Sweeney was being sincere, but he still didn't trust him completely.

"I've realized all the things I've done were wrong," Sweeney continued, "And I 'ope for some chance of forgiveness. Now, I want to try to put the past behind me and move on."

Toby took a deep breath. "Mr. Todd," he said, "I still don't completely trust you, but I'm starting to get there. I'm really not sure if I can really forgive you and you've really hurt me a lot but, I think it'd be good to try to move on and start anew."

Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett smiled at each other happily. Progress was being made.

"There's one thing I wanna know, though." Toby said.

" Wot is it?" Sweeney asked.

"I wanna know why you killed all those people." Toby said.

Mrs. Lovett glanced at Sweeney. She knew this that this was a subject he didn't like to talk about.

"Well," Sweeney said. "Many years ago I had a wife and daughter. I had a very happy life. But, one day, the judge sent me away on false charges, and took my wife and daughter. Fifteen years later I came back, and sought revenge on the judge and everyone else who had done me wrong. Now, though, I realize that what I've done was wrong." Sweeney sighed and leaned back in his chair.

Toby was starting to feel bad for him. He couldn't imagine what he had gone through.

"I- I'm sorry." Toby said

"That's all right." Sweeney said. "As I said before, I want to try to put the past behind me."

Mrs. Lovett smiled. She was glad to see Sweeney start to come clean with everything. She was also happy to see that Toby was starting to warm up to Sweeney, even if only very slightly. She smiled at Sweeney and Toby, who both smiled back at her. She hugged Toby tightly and Sweeney got up and gave her a kiss and ruffled Toby's hair. She realized that they were a family now. They might be a bit of a dysfunctional one; but they were still a family.

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope it was worth the wait and I guess I'll see you next chapter! =~D

Oh, one more thing, this chapter was named after a Avenged Sevenfold song and last chapter was named after an Emilie Autumn song.


	9. Romance

A/N: And you thought I had given up, didn't you?

I owe a _**lot **_(and I mean _**A LOT**_) of credit to the wonderful NellieTodd for helping me out with this chapter. Without her, I fear that Tourniquet would have been utterly abandoned. She was gracious enough to give of her valued time to help write part of this chapter for me and help get the ball rolling again. I cannot thank her enough.

Me no own, you no sue.

Tourniquet- Chapter 9: Romance

A thin beam of sun shone through the clouds and into Sweeney Todd's shop. The feeble ray reflected off of the razor Sweeney held in his hand, making the silver sparkle. He sighed contently to himself as he continued to sharpen his friends. It was a Sunday. The shops were closed. He set the razor back in its case and walked downstairs.

Mrs. Lovett and Toby were sitting in the parlor with a large, leather bound book sitting between them. Mrs. Lovett flipped through the pages.

"'ere, try this one." She said pointing to a page and handing the book to Toby. He sat the book on his lap and cleared his throat.

"From childhood's hour I 'ave not been," he began,  
"As others w-were - I 'ave not seen  
As other saw - I could not b-bring.  
My passions from a common spring  
From the same source I 'ave not taken  
My s-s-sorrow; I could not awaken  
My 'eart to joy at the same tone;  
And all I lov'd -_I_ lov'd alone."

Here he paused and took a deep breath. He turned to Mrs. Lovett who nodded, urging him to continue.

"_Then_ - in my ch-childhood - in the dawn  
Of a most st-stormy life - was drawn  
From ev'ry depth of good and ill  
The mystery which b-binds me still:  
From the t-torrent, or the f-fountain,  
From the red cliff of the mountain,  
From the sun that 'round me roll'd  
In its autumn tint of gold -  
F-from the lightning in the sky -  
As it pass'd me flying by -  
From the thunder and the st-storm,  
And the cloud that took the form  
When the rest of 'eaven was blue…  
Of a demon in my view."

He finished the final line and looked up from the book. When he lifted his eyes, he meet those of Sweeney Todd, who was eyeing him intently from the doorway of the parlor. Toby jumped, startled, and dropped the book which hit the floor with a dull _thud_.

"M-mr. Todd!" He stammered. Sweeney narrowed his eyes towards him. "I-I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't mean t-to, I m-mean I didn't mean t-to imply th-that… it's j-just th-that… I was only…" He then quickly picked up the book off the floor and clutched it to him.

"You're becoming a rather good reader, Tobias." Sweeney said, walking across the room.

Toby sighed. He was glad that Sweeney had not taken the last line offensively. He was just starting to patch things up with him and he didn't want it all to be ruined by a single petty line in a poem.

"That he is." Mrs. Lovett said, smiling. "He's gotten so far in his lessons. 'aven't you, dear?" Toby nodded, smiling slightly.

"'ow 'as you morning been, my love?" Sweeney asked. He leaned towards Mrs. Lovett and kissed her on the lips, which lingered for a moment. Toby rolled his eyes and got up to put the book back on the shelf.

"Fine, dear, fine," Mrs. Lovett answered. Sweeny gave a slight nod of his head and began to walk out of the parlor. Before he could, she spoke again. "Love, it's such a beautiful morning."

Sweeney turned back to look at her. His lips twitched upward in what would be a smile. "That it is." He watched the baker saunter forward, wringing her hands.

"Yes, in fact, it's so lovely, why don't the three of us…well, go on a picnic?" Her heart fluttered in anticipation as she examined his unsure expression. Sweeney didn't answer, but instead left the room. Mrs. Lovett's heart sank. Perhaps it was too soon to ask him to do such a thing; after all, him and Lucy went out for picnics all the time. The last thing he needed was a reminder of his other life. Tears welled up on the brims of her eyes, her stomach twisting in guilt and failure. She then felt a small hand clasp hers; Toby was standing by her side, silently comforting his adoptive mother.

"Mrs. Lovett, did you get rid of the old picnic basket?" Sweeney's sudden question made both Mrs. Lovett and Toby jump. The barber was standing in the doorway behind them, apparently after having just looked through the pie shop.

"Um… it should be in the closet in my bedroom." Her legs were wobbly as she went off to search for it.

* * *

The breeze was gentle, but strong enough to allow Toby to fly a kite with ease. It was just after noon. The lunch that Mrs. Lovett had prepared of her pies ("Purely fruit, I swear." she had chuckled after Toby looked at them, ready to hurl.) had been long since eaten.

The baker watched Toby fly his kite for awhile before the wind died and the kite came crashing down, the line draping all over him.

Before she could say anything, Sweeney got to his feet and made his way over to help the boy.

Toby cringed slightly, still a little unsure, as the barber assisted him in getting him untangled from the string. His touch still made the boy shudder; memories of that dreadful night came flooding back to him in fast motion - the bodies, the blood, the pies, Mrs. Lovett and Mr. Todd hunting him down, him being caught, Sweeney breaking his arm and holding the razor to his throat.

The boy blinked a few times to rid himself of the horrid memories which had flashed before him like a hellish nightmare.

No. Not this time. Mr. Todd was going to be around for quite awhile. What was he going to do, keep running and hiding until he moved out of the house? He had to stand his ground and keep strong.

Seconds became minutes for Toby until Sweeney had untangled the line and the kite flew back into the air. The barber walked back to his beautiful Mrs. Lovett.

She had her eyes glued to the clear blue sky, her expression showing her absentmindedness, until the barber sat down next to her and placed a hand on her knee. She turned to him and looked at his eyes. Something about them seemed different. Inching closer and making eye contact with him, she could see something had changed. His face was calmer, his eyes, usually aflame with anger and vengeance, now softer and kinder.

Sweeney studied her curiously. Something about her, too, seemed different. Normally she was chattering away, yammering on about who-knows-what.

No, that wasn't it. (Even though she was uncharacteristically silent for once.) Maybe it was the new view he had of her; not a necessary evil, but someone he cared about. Someone he knew he'd hurt deeply; his heart burned to correct what he had done.

For a moment, Lucy's face was just a blur in his head. In fact, he wasn't even thinking of her name now; or Johanna's for that matter. Only one name in particular stuck out from all the rest he'd ever learned.

Nellie.

His heart aflutter, the sentence tumbled from his mouth. "Nellie Lovett, will you marry me?"

Toby overheard. The boy was in such a shock that the birds in the sky were soon joined by his colorful kite, carried away by the breeze.

The baker searched the face of the barber, scanning the depths of his dark, liquid brown eyes. Her heart seemed to leap out of her chest and the breath from her lungs was sucked out. The moment that she had fantasized about for over a decade and half was now taking place. Any grudge that she still held against him drifted off on the changing breeze. Her lips trembled.

"Y-yes. Yes." she said, a large smile gracing her lips as tears of pure joy began to brim up in her eyes.

Sweeney brushed away a tear from her cheek with the back of his calloused hand and caressed her face, tracing his index finger along her delicate jaw bone. He then cupped her face in both of his hands and kissed her, passionately.

"Erm, mum? Mr. Todd?"

The couple broke free of each other and looked up at Toby, who was staring at them wide-eyed.

A blush settled on Mrs. Lovett's cheeks and she cleared her throat. "Come sit down, darling." she said and patted the empty space on the picnic blanket next to her. "We 'ave something to tell ya."

Toby plopped down beside her and glanced back and forth between his adoptive mother and the "demon" barber. Mrs. Lovett tilted her head towards Sweeney and smiled at him. He inched as close as he could to her and put his arm around her waist.

"Well," she said, clasping her hands, "I am very happy to announce that Mr. Todd and I are going to be married." She was grinning from ear to ear as she looked intently at Toby, waiting for his reaction.

The boy wasn't quite sure of what emotion to exhibit. He was glad to see his mum so happy; the happiest he had ever seen her. On the other hand, he was still a little uneasy about the prospect of Mr. Todd holding a permanent residence on Fleet Street. He was beginning to see Sweeney as less and less of a threat to him, but it all seemed so sudden. The proposal had fallen out of the clear blue sky. He looked over to the face of the smiling barber. He didn't seem at all intimidating. He looked…happy. They both just looked _so happy. _

"Is something wrong, dear?" Mrs. Lovett said. The boy shook his head and smiled.

"No, mum. Nothings wrong. I'm really happy for you. I'm just happy that you're happy."

She hugged her adoptive son to her. "Now we can officially be a family." she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

A family. The impression was a foreign one to Toby, as much as it was a once abandoned fantasy or fading memory to Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd. The child had never had a family to call his own before. He remember how back in the days of preaching the benefits of the bogus elixir of Pirelli's in the markets, he would watch groups of happy, smiling families walking about, wondering it would be like to be with people who loved you and cared for you no matter what. He felt rather jealous of them all. Now, he supposed, he had it. It was not exactly the type of family he had fondly dreamed about, but it was a start. He sighed and thought to himself: _I suppose Mr. Todd really __**is**__ going to be sticking around for quite a while. _

* * *

A/N: The poem that Toby reads in this chapter is titled "_Alone_" and belongs Mr. Edgar Allan Poe.

Well, was that worth the wait? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Statements of utter disgust? Review, or I shall send Sweeney to give you the closest shave you will ever know. How is that so? Well, because he is simply one _**hell **_of a barber. ;) (Sorry, I just **had **to get that out of my system.)


	10. Hearts

**A/N:** Wow, you all still care about this story. I have to say, I'm shocked and flattered. Thank you all for your support.

Me no own, you no sue.

Tourniquet - Chapter 10: Hearts

A few short weeks after the proposal in the park, the couple was married in nearby Saint Dustan's church. The ceremony was a small and quiet one; far from the extravagant wedding day that Nellie Lovett had dreamed about since she was a young girl. Her dress wasn't quite as elaborate as she would have wished and the attendance was to a minimum. (The only other person present besides her, Sweeney and the rather nervous looking priest was Toby.) But, the purpose was served. You don't need much when you are truly in love. She was now joined to her beloved Sweeney until death do they part.

* * *

Soon after their marriage, the duo was planning to depart for their honeymoon by the sea.

"Mum, it's your 'oneymoon. You two deserve some time by yourselves. I'll be perfectly fine 'ere by myself for a few days. It's nothing I can't 'andle." Toby said, looking up at Mrs. Lovett.

"Are you sure, darling. I mean…"

"Mum, I'll be _fine_." Toby quickly replied, taking her hand in his. "I told you, it's nothing I can't 'andle. You don't need to worry about me. I'll be all right. I promise. And besides, it's only for a few short days." He smiled up at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly. Need he remind her that he spent over twelve years living in a workhouse _and _he worked for Pirelli. As far as he was concerned he could handle just about anything.

"The boy's right, Nellie. I'm sure he's old enough and capable enough to cope with being left alone for a few days." Sweeney said approvingly.

Nellie looked back and forth between her new husband and her adoptive son for a moment. She sighed.

"I suppose you're both right. You can stay." She bent forward slightly and looked Toby straight in the eyes. "I promise we'll be back in a few days. There's still a loaf of bread or two in the cupboard and some money in case you need to go buy anything."

"All right, mum. I'll be fine. I promise you." Toby said, smiling at her reassuringly. She still looked a bit worried.

"I know you will, darling." she replied and gave him a tight hug. "I love you, Toby."

"I…love you…too…mum." He gasped out. She released her vise-like grip of him and straightened herself.

"We'll be back in about three days or so. Good-bye, darling."

"The shop better still be intact when we return." Sweeney gruffly added in.

"Of course, sir." Toby replied. He still referred to the barber as "sir" or "Mr. Todd" even though Sweeney could now be considered something of a parental figure to the boy; but a familiarity such as one of "father" still just didn't seem to fit.

"It'll be like you never left…maybe even better. Good-bye."

Nellie waved to the boy before picking up her luggage and following Sweeney out the door to where a cab and very impatient driver waited. Sweeney loaded both of their luggage and then preceded to help his new wife into the carriage, but not without her first waving a final good-bye to Toby who stood in the doorway. He returned the gesture. Sweeney gave a small wave as well then hopped into the carriage. The driver clicked to his horse and snapped the reins which then sent them on their way.

Toby waved one last goodbye to the newlyweds and then turned back into the shop, closing the door behind him. He gazed about the darkened shop and let out an overdramatic sigh. _Three days alone. What am I to do with myself! _The boy mused. He walked over to the cupboard and retrieved a bottle of gin, then wandered into the parlor. He set the bottle on an end table and walked towards the bookshelf. Most of the literature in the collection were penny romance novels, some thumbed through so many times that their covers were beginning to wear off. A few of the volumes, though, were collection of poems and short stories; interspersed here and there with the occasional Shakespearian romance-tragedy. Toby retrieved one of the volumes containing a collection of short stories from the shelf and took it back with him to the settee.

He opened the book to a random page and began to read. The story at hand was a tale of a series of incidents of people who had the misfortune of being buried alive. _How awful. _Toby thought to himself. The story was getting far too morbid for his taste and the author's (a person who to Toby seemed like someone who had spent a good deal of time in a loony-bin) use of very large words which the boy's minimal vocabulary could not quite comprehend was giving him a headache. He shut the book with a huff and took a swig of gin. He set the book down next to him, stood up and ventured to the back of the humble residence to where his bedroom was.

After rummaging through his room for a few minutes he finally found what he was looking for: a deck of cards. With the deck in hand he returned to the parlor and sat down on the floor. He picked up two of the cards and built an A-frame structure. He repeated the process with several more pairs of cards until soon he had created a decent sized house of cards. He was just about to begin working on the fourth floor of his tower when it collapsed on him, sending cards tumbling down. A three of hearts skidded across the floor. He gathered the cards back up and began working on another tower.

After several hours, multiple fallen towers and half a bottle of gin, Toby finally gave up building the flimsy structures and retired to bed.

* * *

Toby sauntered into the shop the next morning, stomach growling. He half expected to see Mrs. Lovett preparing breakfast, then remembered that her and Mr. Todd were on their honeymoon. This made him feel a bit lonely. He opened one of the cupboards and took out a loaf of bread. He broke off a small piece and began to eat it, chewing slowly as he surveyed the empty pie shop. A thin film of dust had settled on the tables and counter, and the windows were starting to get dingy. _The shop sure does need cleaning, _Toby thought to himself._ I did promise to keep the place in order and I really don't 'ave anything to do today. _He quickly finished eating and then went to retrieve the cleaning supplies.

The morning was spent scrubbing the floor, dusting counter and table tops and washing windows, all while merrily singing old parlor songs in an attempt to ward off the gloom which hung about the deserted shop.

It was well after noon when he had finished. He wiped the sweat from his brow and stood back, marveling at his handy work. The counter an table tops as well as the floor shone. You could finally see clearly out of the windows. He smiled to himself and went to procure a bottle of gin; a reward to himself for a job well done. He walked into the parlor and plopped himself down on the settee. He was about to take a drink of gin when he noticed all the dust that had gathered on the mantel as well as the cob webs which clung to the mirror. He sat the bottle down and frowned. _Might as well clean in here, too. _He thought and went to retrieve the dust rag.

As he was dusting off the series of knickknacks that lined the mantel, he happened to glance towards the door that led back to the bedrooms. "Well, I might as well clean the entire 'ouse while I'm at it."

The evening had far advanced when he had finished cleaning. The house was immaculate, but Toby was exhausted. He grabbed the bottle of gin from where he had left it in the parlor and then headed back to his bedroom to finally relax.

* * *

Toby awoke the next morning feeling absolutely miserable. His head as well as the rest of his body ached and he felt nauseous. He looked to the empty gin bottle that he still held in his hand and set it on his bed-side table. The bottle swayed when he let go of it, but he caught it before it could fall to the floor and shatter. He went to sit up, but was overcome by a wave of nauseating dizziness and slid back down onto the pillow. _I've just 'ad a bit too much to drink. _He thought. _It'll pass shortly, I'm sure. _After a few minutes he felt slightly better, but not much. He rolled out of bed with a groan and stood up. He began to feel dizzy again, but it soon passed.

He walked into the parlor and shivered. He was freezing. He pulled back the curtains and peered out the window to see the sun peeking out from the clouds. People walked the streets without heavy jackets on. It was a lovely late spring morning, but as far as Toby was concerned it might as well have been the dead of winter. He haphazardly threw a small log into the hearth and promptly set it alight, his fingers shaking slightly as he lit the match. He sat down on the floor in front of the fire and closed his eyes, taking in the needed warmth. Even though he had gotten a full night of sleep, the boy still felt absolutely exhausted and his entire body had a dull ache. _Must've overworked myself yesterday, _he thought sleepily.

After a few minutes of basking in the heat of the fire he got up, joints popping, and ventured into the shop to get something to eat. He reached up to get some bread from the cupboard, aching arms protesting at him. He took one bite, then realized that he really wasn't all that hungry. What he really wanted was a nice hot cup of tea, but he felt that he didn't have quite enough energy to make himself one. He wearily shuffled back into the parlor. He grabbed a blanket that was hanging over a chair and curled up in the settee with it, the fire burning brightly. He promptly fell asleep.

* * *

Sweeney and Nellie sat together on the sun drenched beach. It was a gorgeous day. A few fair weather clouds floated lazily across the bright azure sky as seagulls flew through the air overhead. A light breeze playfully tossed the baker's auburn locks. The barber had his arms around his love's waist and was nuzzling at her neck. Nellie on the other hand was staring absentmindedly into the waves that crashed onto the shore, not seeming to pay much heed to Sweeney's advances. He unwrapped one of his arms from her waist and placed a finger under her chin, turning her face towards his.

"Is there something wrong, my pet?" he asked.

The baker shook her head and smiled slightly. "Just wondering about 'ow Toby's doing."

"I'm sure the lad is doing just fine." he replied with a smile. The smile on Nellie's face grew larger as she put her arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss.

* * *

The carriage stopped in front of the duel shops on Fleet Street around early afternoon. The door opened and out stepped a rather chipper looking Sweeney Todd who turned around to help out an even more chipper looking Mrs. Lovett. They unloaded their luggage from the vehicle and made their way to the door of the shop. Sweeney unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was dead quiet.

"I wonder where Toby is?" Nellie asked.

They headed into the parlor, luggage in hand to find Toby curled up on the settee fast asleep. Any fire that had been in the fireplace had since died and the boy had a blanket tightly wrapped around him. His sleeping face was gaunt and pale looking. Mrs. Lovett set her bags on the floor and walked over to where he lay sleeping. She knelt down beside him.

"Toby, darling." she said gently.

His eyes flickered open. "Mum?" he asked weakly.

"'Ello, dear." she said and brushed a few stray hairs from his pallid forehead.

"You're home." he said and attempted to sit upright. His very bones still ached.

"Indeed I am." she replied.

"Did you 'ave a nice trip?"

"Yes, very much so." she answered, glancing up at Sweeney who had a sly smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Good, I'm glad." the boy smiled, eyelids drooping.

"Are you feeling all right, darling?" Mrs. Lovett asked.

"I'm fine. Just a bit worn out, but I'm fine." he said. He didn't exactly feel "fine", but he hated to worry her. He had promised her that he would be all right for a few days on his on and he didn't want her to go back on her judgment.

"Are you sure?"

"Mum, I'm perfectly f-ACHOO! …Fine." he wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve. "I'm all right. I must've kick up a lot of dust when I cleaned yesterday."

She looked at him questionably and placed a hand on his cheek. It felt warmer than normal. "You look very tired, dear."

Toby nodded in agreement. He wasn't going to try and deny that.

"Why don't you go lay down in your room for awhile. I'm sure you'll be more comfortable there."

He nodded again and let her help him up, shivering slightly as he let his blanket drop to the floor. Sweeney turned to start putting their luggage away while Mrs. Lovett escorted Toby to his room.

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry if this chapter ended up being at tad on the boring side, but I assure you that the story gets more interesting as it continues. I want to _"try" _to get another chapter up by next week because I start school again on the 29th, but I cannot make you any promises.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Statements of utter disgust? Click the review button. Come on, you can do it.


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